Here is the problem with being a sub...

Here is the problem with being a substitue teacher at times: they think of themselves (the students) as my peers. They do not respect the teacher, and I am a somewhere less. A day like today does everything it can to convince me that this is a fallen world and it is hurtling ever faster, ever further, down.

But my Father does not comfort me. Instead He leads me to the cross, where His heart is and I am broken even more. I am not sad at the plight of the world, but depressed that I appear ineffective and hopeless. What can I possibly do? What could I possibly say? How self-centered am I that this is what I care about?

To hear them talk - how they do not want anything to do with any religion - that they're OK. They refer to it as fairytale. They deman fairness, but its really a mask for their own selfishness.

This is the world I enter into 5 days of the week. This is my life and days like today just make me weep inside. How strong am I? How much mroe can I take?

What is the extent of my patience?

What is the extent of my love for these kids?

Dr. Livingstone, I presume?

Today is the day when the famous question was given and answered as two men met in Africa...

"Dr. Livingstone, I presume?"

He was a great man and many followed Dr. Livingstone.  His life, disappearance, and death in Africa turned the already busy business of African missions into a huge business.  However, one of his biggest regrets was the fact that his children grew up fatherless.  He served the Lord, but he realised too late that his family paid the price.  

No matter my calling, I cannot think of my family as any less of a blessing, nor a primary place of my immediate ministry.

Praying for President Obama

Ok, I'm not lazy.  Josh Harris not only beat me to the punch, but did a much better job than I could have...

On Sunday I told my church that after the election half the country would be elated, confident that all would be right in the world because their candidate won; the other half dejected and sure that the world had ended because their candidate lost. But Christians should realize that both sides are wrong. If you voted for Obama, he isn't worthy of your ultimate hope. And if you didn't vote for him, don't despair as though Jesus isn't reigning over the world.

Those who call Jesus their Lord can be filled with a quiet peace and confidence in all seasons. Our Savior is never in the White House. Our Savior is Jesus. We must turn to him with joy and faith. And as we do let's pray for our new President Elect that God would give him wisdom and grace to lead our nation in the days to come. My friend Justin Taylorshares the following helpful words:

No matter who you voted for--or whether you voted at all--it's important to remember that, as President, Barack Obama will have God-given authority to govern us, and that we should view him as a servant of God (Rom. 13:1, 4) to whom we should be subject (Rom. 13:1, 5; 1 Pet. 2:13-14).

• We are to pray for Barack Obama (1 Tim. 2:1-2).
• We are to thank God for Barack Obama (1 Tim. 2:1-2).
• We are to respect Barack Obama (Rom. 13:7).
• We are to honor Barack Obama (Rom. 13:7; 1 Pet. 2:17).

There are many qualifications to add to these exhortations--for example, see this excellent post by John Piper--but it's still important to remember that these are requirements for all Bible-believing Christians.

Though I deeply disagree with Barack Obama on certain policy issues (most notably his support of abortion), I am committed to praying for him and his family in the years to come. And I am grateful to God that in his election our country has taken an important step away from its sad history of racism and prejudice.

Election Day, woo hoo

"But you, O Lord, are a shield about me,

my glory and the lifter of my head."

-Psalm 3:3

"Whom shall I fear?"

- Psalm 27:1

Regardless of who is elected, I'm gonna be OK.  My hope is not resting on the democratic process, but, to quote Webb, a king and a kingdom.

Up at 5:30.. nothing good on TV

So, while I'm up, I check my blog subscriptions.  Here is a great little something to think about from Josh Harris:

 If one more person reminds me to set my clock back, "Aaaarrrghghggh!" But seriously thanks, everyone. Although I will probably still forget. Nowadays with cell phones and electronic devices that automatically change the time things can get really confusing. One year I changed the time on my PDA before I went to bed, but then the PDA also changed the time automatically in the middle of the night. Then it woke me up two hours off schedule. I was really confused. Today I read an interesting article in the Washington Post by Monica Hess entitled "It's Not Just a Matter of Time." In it Hess talks about why different parts of the country and world refuse to accept the practice of daylight savings. She writes,

What these time change wars are really all about, of course, is a sense of control. Over our daily schedules, over our national identity and, in the bigger sense, over the one thing that waits for no man. We cannot stop the march of time, but we can stop clocks, even wind them back an hour once a year.

It is pretty funny when you think about it. We try to control things and make ourselves more productive and efficient by all pretending that we can change the time. What if we all started freelance time-changing just to suite our individual preferences? That would be a mess. "I was going to be late for our meeting today so I set my clock back an hour. It's now 10AM in my universe." Anyway, back to the Post article. Did you know that they not only don't practice daylight savings in China, but they don't have time-zones? Hess writes, "The entire country is set to Beijing, meaning 9 a.m. is still dark for some citizens and practically the middle of the afternoon for others." Wild. But the most interesting portion of the article (and now you'll understand the title of this post) is the closing paragraph that tells the story of terrorists who literally died because of a time change. Have you ever heard this story?

Back in 1999, terrorists on the daylight-saving West Bank built several time bombs, delivered to co-conspirators in Israel and scheduled to explode at a set time. Problem was, Israel had just switched back to standard time, so the only people injured were the terrorists themselves when the bomb detonated an hour earlier than they expected and killed them all.

If only all terrorists were so easily thwarted. Okay, one more time: "Don't forget to set your clocks back." Goodnight